CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

The Tobin Bridge housed six lanes of US Highway 1 and crossed over Mystic River. It was a double-deck truss bridge that sat a little more than two hundred and fifty feet over the water at its highest point. As the bridge came into view, Avery was pretty sure that anyone trying to remain at least somewhat private in their actions would stay away from the middle of the bridge where morning traffic would be at its thickest.

She knew that the deck beneath the bridge would be the most probable location for Barry Kechner to do his demented work. Doing it off of the upper deck where traffic zoomed by in the morning would be opening himself up to being caught easily. On the lower deck, he’d only have joggers and pedestrians to worry about. And given the cold weather, she doubted there would be many people out for a run or walk on the bridge this early.

It was 7:56 when she and Kellaway arrived at the Tobin Bridge. Before she was even out of the car, she saw O’Malley shouting instructions at a team of other officers and a crew from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. They were working feverishly to block off traffic from the bridge and doing so in a way that was as subtle and non-obstructive as possible. It was a smart move; if Barry Kechner was indeed here with Heather Ellis, there was no sense in tipping him off in any way.

Avery and Kellaway rushed over to O’Malley. A look of relief flashed across his face when he saw her. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse from all of the shouting he’d been doing to be heard over the roar of morning traffic coming on and off of the Tobin Bridge.

“Any sign of him?” Avery asked.

“Yes, in fact. Two different drivers coming off of the bridge have stopped to tell us that there was a man walking along the edge, right between the rails. He had a woman with him that looked like she did not want to be with him. Seems to have been sighted just before the toll plaza. His car is pulled as far to the side as it will go. Dumbass even put his hazard lights on.”

“How long ago?” Avery asked, her heart now slamming in her chest.

“I don’t know,” O’Malley said, looking at his watch. “Maybe seven minutes ago?”

“Okay,” Avery said. “Let us in.”

She went back to her car and impatiently waited for O’Malley and his team to make way for her to enter the bridge.

“So he’s here?” Kellaway asked.

“Seems like it,” Avery said as she sped through the narrow lane O’Malley had made for her.

She picked up speed quickly, heading for the toll plaza and Chelsea, waiting on the other side. The cleared lanes helped immensely and by the time her speed had reached fifty, she saw the car pulled over to the side of the bridge in what served as a thin breakdown lane, a pad of sorts along the edge of the bridge allowing for problematic or stranded motorists. Sure enough, she saw someone standing on the other side of the protective cables. The figure looked abnormal but that was only because it was actually two bodies: Barry Kechner and Heather Ellis.

“You good?” Avery asked, reaching for her door handle.

Kellaway nodded as she opened her door and instantly went for her Glock. She did not pull it but kept her hand resting there, light and ready to move at a moment’s notice. Avery felt her muscles twitching to do the same but she knew it would be a mistake. If she was taking the lead on this, Kechner could not see her in any sort of defensive position.

When they stepped onto the pavement, the bridge was eerily quiet. Kechner and Heather Ellis stood about ten yards ahead of them, both clinging to the rails at the far edge of the bridge. The drop to the Mystic River below might not kill her, but it would probably hurt her enough to make it impossible to swim to shore. Avery looked to their hands, both clinging to the rails. One sudden movement or even just a sweaty palm, and they’d both go falling in an instant.

Avery walked slowly. She could feel Kellaway behind her like some weird gravity that kept her grounded.

“Barry Kechner?” Avery asked. She didn’t shout, but raised her voice enough to sound as if it were booming across the quiet bridge. The chilled air carried it to Kechner, who had already turned in their direction at the sound of their engine coming to a stop behind his car.

“We’re fine here,” he said. His voice sounded soft and almost pleasant. He might have been anyone out for a morning stroll.

“Who is that you have with you?” Avery asked. When the question was out of her mouth, she took two more steps forward. He was now about six yards away, the rails between them. Another few steps and she’d be able to reach out and grab Heather Ellis.

Avery could just barely see Heather. She was wearing a hoodie, the hood pulled up. All Avery could see of her was one brown eye, curly brown hair spilling outside of the hood, and a sharp pointed nose.

“Just a friend,” Kechner said. “I’m helping her. We’ll be done in a minute.”

“Well, you see, you’ve parked your car on the side of the bridge. And it’s technically illegal for you to be standing over there on the other side of the rails. Not to mention…it’s very dangerous. You need to come back over here to the pavement, okay?”

Kechner looked at her with an almost childlike expression. He was looking at her as if he thought she was an idiot. She guessed him to be about fifty-five, maybe pushing sixty. He wore a stocking cap, a puffy black coat, and work boots that were planted firmly on the lower rail, the toes hanging out over empty space.

Kellaway came up beside Avery and gave her a questioning look. You mind? that look seemed to ask. Avery gave a quick, curt nod and Kellaway slowly stepped forward. She did not look nervous but she was certainly a far cry from confident.

“Mr. Kechner, why have you brought Heather here?” Kellaway asked. As she spoke, she took a small baby step forward and then another—both so small and seemingly insignificant that it appeared as if she had hardly moved.

“She wants to be here. She—”

“NO!” Heather Ellis screamed. “No I don’t! Please help me!”

At the interruption, Kechner placed his hand on Heather’s. For only split second, his hand had been free, his body perched over the water by only leaning against the rail. Avery thought if a strong wind came by, it might have thrown him off balance just enough to send them both plunging over, two hundred and fifty feet to the frigid water below.

Again, Kellaway took another baby step and then one daring large one. She had closed to within less than five yards of them now. Avery took another step forward as well and slightly to the right. If they could end up bookending Kechner and Heather, they might get out of this without anyone dying.

“Step forward one more time,” Kechner said, “and I’ll push her. I’d be doing her a favor, you know? She needs to be over this fear.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Avery said. “But look…your car is still blocking the lane and we need you to move it.”

“I’m not stupid,” Kechner said. “I know why you’re here. I suppose you know about Lawnbrook, Costello, and Saunders, too. Don’t you? You want to arrest me?”

“I don’t know,” Avery said. “We’ll have to talk it all out and see.”

He knows I’m lying, she thought. He knows he’s in serious trouble and that makes him all the more dangerous.

“No talking,” he said. “She’ll be my last. And I’ll go with her.”

He turned and looked at them and Avery saw not a single flicker of fear. He truly thought he was helping his victims, perhaps taking them out of a world where their fear controlled them.

Several things happened in the three seconds that followed; it all felt as if it were in slow motion but the weight of it made it also feel fluid and uncontrollable.

Kechner pounded his fist into Heather’s hand and pushed her. Her body went tilting forward. She let out a scream, flailing for a rail that was too far away from her grasp. As she tottered forward, her body giving way to gravity, Kellaway launched herself toward the railing. In doing so, her right arm slammed into Kechner while her left reached out and grabbed Heather. She barely caught her, snagging her by the hood of her sweater. It stopped the forward momentum just enough for Kellaway to pull her backward. The sound of the fabric of her hoodie tearing was impossibly loud.

As Heather grasped the rail again, Kechner drew his fist back and caught Kellaway in the side of the face. She stumbled back and when she did, Kechner grabbed her right arm and pulled it hard toward him. Kellaway was again slammed into the railing, letting out a groan of pain.

Avery opted not to draw her Glock, feeling that she’d need both hands as she dashed forward. By the time she got to the rail, Kechner had grabbed Kellaway by the hair and chin, hauling her over the rail. The moment Avery reached them, Kellaway’s feet were in the air as she toppled over the rail. She screamed as her body went flailing toward the water.

Avery screamed and applied a headlock on Kechner from behind the rail. He struggled against her but she tightened her grip, choking him out. The leverage of the rail between them worked to his advantage, though. He pressed against it, pulling her closer to him.

“Heather, can you crawl over?” she said, hissing through her effort of keeping Kechner immobile.

But Heather was paralyzed, starting down at the water. Avery followed her gaze and saw something that made her heart swell: Kellaway, clinging to the bottom edge of the lower level of the bridge. The edge didn’t allow much room for her to pull herself up, but she was carefully moving herself to the left, toward a thick cable that she could cling to and hopefully use to scale back up to the rails.

“O’Malley!” Avery screamed. “O’Malley, we need help!”

That moment of distraction was all Kechner needed. He slammed his head backward, the back of his skull connected solidly with Avery’s mouth. She felt her lip burst and tasted blood right away. She released her grip and stumbled back.

This time, she acted quickly, not making the mistake of leaving her Glock holstered. She withdrew it and aimed right away.

Kechner was clasping Heather’s wrist, trying to pull it away from the rail. Heather shook and trembled as one finger after the other was pried up.

“Let her go, Kechner,” Avery bellowed. “Last warning!”

He didn’t even give Avery the consideration of looking her way. He now had both hands on Heather, determined to pry her loose. It would mean that he would fall with her but compared to the time he’d spend in jail for four murders, Avery assumed he’d rather have death.

She could help him in that regard.

“Let her go!”

When he didn’t respond this time, Avery took a step forward, aimed with skill that had remained with her during her time off, and squeezed the trigger.

In her career, she had avoided headshots at all costs. But this time, she had no choice. Anything other than a certain kill shot might only injure him, causing him to fall and take Heather with him.

The shot landed true, creating a black hole directly between Kechner’s eyes. He looked almost confused for a moment as his body went limp. His hands unclenched themselves from Heather and he went falling backward.

Avery ran forward, relieved to see that his falling body had missed Kellaway by a good five feet. She had made it over to the cable and was using it to hoist herself upward, her feet inching along the side of the bridge back toward the rails.

As for Kechner, his body continued to fall. She watched it until it slammed into the cold water below them. Even Heather Ellis seemed to break out of her frozen state to watch his descent.

Kellaway was still out of her reach, about ten feet down along the edge of the bridge. She looked tired and nervous as hell.

“Can you make it?” Avery asked, looking for a way over to where she could help.

Kellaway only nodded, her attention solely on the cable and the edge of the bridge. Behind them, two cars pulled to a screeching stop as O’Malley and five officers arrived. They got out of the car with guns drawn.

“Barry Kechner is dead,” Avery said. “And Kellaway is hanging on for dear life over here!”

By the time O’Malley and the others had reached the rail, Kellaway had firm footing on the same ledge that Heather Ellis was perched on. She slowly made her way over to her, holding on to the rail for dear life.

“Heather,” she said. “Come on back to the other side with me, what do you say?”

Heather nodded and said something, but Avery didn’t hear it.

Her phone was ringing. She checked it quickly and saw that it was Rose.

Shit, Avery thought. I’m supposed to pick her up from the hosp…

The thought seemed to fracture and break as the world grew dizzy. She looked to Kellaway, slowly helping Heather back over the rail and to the pavement on the other side. Avery smiled wanly, took a stumbling step forward, and then passed out.